Four Treasures of the Sky: The compelling debut about identity and belonging in the 1880s American West

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But when she is kidnapped and forced across an ocean from China to America, Daiyu must relinquish the home and future she imagined for herself. Daiyu never wanted to be like the tragic heroine for whom she was named, revered for her beauty and cursed with heartbreak.

The author also sheds a light on the xenophobia, racially-motivated violence and vigilantism that Chinese immigrants had to endure post the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 .I want to come away with an emotional connection to the characters who represent those who lived then and I always hope for beautiful writing that will take me to that time and place.

I wish that this author’s note was at the beginning of the story instead of the end, so I could better prepare myself for what is to come, which is a story of emotional devastation caused by the real life actions of our own history as Americans. Shipped to America to be sold to a brothel, Daiyu’s destiny is once again indisputable and devastating. Four Treasures of the Sky" by debut author Jenny Tinghi Zhang is a powerful, eye-opening work of historical fiction which highlights a little known chapter in American history. Though while enjoying the privileges being male presenting gives in a patriarchal society, Daiyu quickly discovers that her race marks her as an Other, a threat, and as less-than-human in the eyes of the white society.The artist must master the art of releasing the brush, giving it the space and freedom to find itself again. It's the story of a Chinese girl who gets stolen from China and trafficked into the US to work at a brothel, it's a story of five Chinese men who get framed for the murder of a white man, and it's the untold story of so many Chinese people who lived in the US during and around the Chinese partition act (I highly recommend listening to the audiobook if you can, it has an interview with the author at the end that explains a lot of her influences).